[Adopted 10-26-2005 by Ord. No. 4719 (Art.
335 of the 1965 Codified Ordinances)]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Local Tax Enabling Act
(Act 511, approved 12-31-1965, as amended) provides in Section 4 (53
P.S. § 6924.306) that every tax imposed under authority
of the Act shall continue on either a calendar- or fiscal-year basis,
without annual reenactment, unless the rate of the tax is subsequently
changed.
The Council of the City of Easton, Northampton
County, Pennsylvania, under and by virtue of the authority vested
in it by the Act of December 31, 1965, being Act No. 511, and known
as the "Local Tax Enabling Act," as amended, does hereby ordain that
a tax to provide revenue for general City purposes is hereby levied,
assessed and imposed upon the privilege of admission to a place of
amusement in the City of Easton, in accordance with the following.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
This article is enacted under the authority
of Act 511 of December 31, 1965 (P.L. 1257), and its amendments.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 6924.101
et seq.
The following words and phrases, when used in
this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section,
except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
All manner and form of entertainment, including, among others,
but not intended to be a comprehensive list thereof, theatrical or
operatic performances, concerts, vaudeville, circuses, carnivals,
fairs and side shows and museums; all forms of entertainment at fairgrounds
and amusement parks; swimming pools, swim clubs, athletic contests
or diversions, including among others, wrestling matches, boxing and
sparring exhibitions, football, basketball and baseball games, skating,
golfing, golf driving and miniature golf ranges, sport exhibitions,
athletic or sport participation, tennis, hockey, bathing, swimming,
archery, shooting, riding, dancing and all other forms of diversion,
sport, recreation or pastime; shows, trade shows, craft shows, and
similar exhibits, exhibitions, contests, displays and games, as well
as all other methods of obtaining monetary admission charges, donations,
contributions or monetary charges of any character, from the general
public or a limited or selected number thereof, directly or indirectly,
in return for other than tangible property.
Any partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, unincorporated
association or other form of unincorporated enterprise owned or organized
or operated by one or more persons.
Regular monetary charge of any character whatever, including
donations, contributions, fixed and exacted, or in any manner fixed
and received by producers, as herein defined, from the general public
or a limited or selected number thereof, directly or indirectly, for
the privilege to attend or engage in any entertainment or amusement,
provided that when such entertainment or amusement is conducted at
any roof garden, nightclub, cabaret or other place where the charge
for admission is wholly or in part included in the price paid for
refreshment, service or merchandise, the amount paid for admission
to such amusement shall be deemed to be the amount of the cover or
minimum charge, if any.
Every natural person and individual, copartnership, association,
corporation, unincorporated enterprise owned by one or more persons
or corporation, domestic or foreign, or an agent who provides admission
at an established price to a place of amusement. Whenever used in
any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, the term "person,"
as applied to copartnerships or associations, means the partners or
members thereof and, as applied to corporations, the officers thereof.
Any place, indoors or outdoors, within the City where the
general public or limited or selected number thereof may, upon payment
of an established price, attend or engage in any amusement as herein
defined, including, among others, theaters, opera houses, amusement
parks, stadiums, arenas, baseball parks, skating rinks, circus or
carnival tents or grounds, fairgrounds, halls, lodge rooms, riding
academies, golf courses, bathing and swimming places, dance halls,
tennis courts, archery, rifle or shotgun ranges, roof gardens, cabarets,
nightclubs and other like places.
Any person conducting any place of amusement, as herein defined,
where the general public or a limited or selected number thereof may,
upon the payment of an established price, attend or engage in any
amusement.
An amusement to be conducted at one location for a period
of less than one month.
A.
Required. No producer shall continue to conduct or
begin to conduct any form of amusement at any permanent or temporary
place of amusement or any itinerant form of amusement within the City
unless an amusement permit shall have been issued to him as hereinafter
prescribed and the tax herein imposed paid in accordance with the
provisions made herein.
B.
Application fee; term; no transferability.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
(1)
Every producer desiring to continue to conduct or
hereafter to begin to conduct any amusement within the City shall
file an application for a permanent, temporary or itinerant amusement
permit or permits, as the case may be, with the Office of the Director
of Finance or its designee. Every application for such permit shall
be made upon a form prescribed, prepared and furnished by the Office
of the Director of Finance or its designee and shall set forth the
name under which the applicant conducts or intends to conduct a permanent
or temporary place or an itinerant form of amusement, the location
of the permanent or temporary place of amusement, and such other information
as the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee may require.
If the applicant has or intends to have more than one place of amusement,
and in the case of an itinerant form of amusement, the date and length
of time such amusement is to be conducted at each place. In the case
of an application for a permit for a temporary place of amusement,
the application shall state the name and address of the owner, lessee
or custodian of the premises upon which such amusement is to be conducted.
If the applicant is an association or a corporation, the application
shall state the names and addresses of the principal officers thereof,
and any other information prescribed by the Office of the Director
of Finance or its designee for purposes of identification. The application
shall be signed by the producer, if a natural person, and in the case
of an association by a member or partner thereof, and in the case
of a corporation by an officer thereof.
(2)
At the time of making such application, the applicant shall pay to the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee a permit fee for each annual permit or for each temporary permit. The amounts of the annual and temporary permit fees are included in Chapter 285, Fees.
(3)
Upon approval of the application and the payment of
any permit fee herein required, the Office of the Director of Finance
or its designee shall grant and issue to each applicant an annual
or temporary amusement permit for each place of amusement within the
City set forth in his application. Amusement permits shall not be
assignable and shall be valid only for the persons in whose names
they are issued and for the conduct of amusements at the places designated
therein and shall at all times be conspicuously displayed at the places
for which they are issued. All permits for permanent places of amusement
shall expire on December 31 next succeeding the date upon which they
are issued, unless sooner suspended, surrendered or revoked for cause
by the proper authorities of the City. Permits for temporary places
of amusement or for forms of itinerant amusement shall expire at the
time specified therein. The producer of an itinerant form of amusement
shall notify the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee
promptly of any change in the original contemplated itinerary, either
as to date or time of the conduct of the amusement at each place.
C.
Renewals; duplicates. Permits issued for permanent places of amusement under the provisions of this article shall be renewed annually before January 1, upon application made to the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee and the payment of a renewal fee as set forth in Chapter 285, Fees. Whenever any permit issued under the provisions of this article is defaced, destroyed or lost, the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee may issue a duplicate to the holder of the defaced, destroyed or lost permit upon the payment of a fee as set forth in Chapter 285, Fees.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
D.
Suspension and revocation; hearing. The Office of
the Director of Finance or its designee may suspend or, after hearing,
revoke an amusement permit whenever it finds that the holder thereof
has failed to comply with any of the provisions of this article. Upon
suspending or revoking any amusement permit, the Office of the Director
of Finance or its designee shall request the holder thereof to surrender
to it immediately all permits or duplicates thereof issued to him,
and the holder shall surrender promptly all such permits to the Office
of the Director of Finance or its designee, as requested. Whenever
the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee suspends an
amusement permit, it shall notify the holder immediately, and Council
shall afford him a hearing, if requested, within five days of such
notice. After such hearing, Council shall either rescind the order
of suspensions or, good cause appearing therefor, shall continue the
suspension or revoke the permit.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
A.
Imposition; rate. A tax is imposed upon the sale of
admission or privilege to attend or engage in any amusement at the
rate of 5% of the established price, not to exceed $2.50 for each
admission, charged the general public or a limited or selected group
thereof by any producer for such admission or privilege, which shall
be paid by the person acquiring the same. The tax as thus imposed
shall be adjusted and paid to the nearest full cent. A 1/2 cent or
more shall be considered as a full cent.
B.
Permanent seats or boxes. In the case of persons having
the permanent use of boxes or seats in any place of amusements, or
in the case of a person admitted at a reduced rate or season or subscription
ticket, or a lease for the use of such box or seat in such places
of amusement, the tax imposed by this article shall be computed on
the established price for which a similar box or seat is sold for
each performance or exhibition at which the box or seat is used or
reserved by or for the lessee or holder, such tax to be paid by the
producer.
C.
Free or complimentary tickets. In the case of the
person admitted free or with complimentary ticket for which no price
of admission is charged, no tax shall apply, except that the producer
of any amusement within the City shall not issue complimentary tickets
or allow free admissions in an amount in excess of 5% of the total
number of paid admissions to any individual amusement event.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
D.
No fixed admission charged. Where no fixed admission
is charged the tax shall be based upon the gross admissions collected
and shall be paid by the producer.
A.
Producers shall collect the tax imposed by this article
and shall be liable to the City as agents thereof for the payment
of the same into the City Treasury through the Office of the Director
of Finance or its designee, as hereinafter provided in this article.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
B.
Where permits are obtained for conducting temporary
amusements by persons who are not the owners, lessees or custodians
of the places where the amusements are to be conducted, or where the
temporary amusement is permitted by the owner, lessee or custodian
of any place to be conducted without the procurement of a permit required
by this article, the tax imposed by this article shall be paid by
the owner, lessee or custodian of such place where such temporary
amusement is held or conducted, unless paid by the producer conducting
the amusement.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
A.
For the purpose of ascertaining the amount of tax
payable by the producers to the City, it shall be the duty of:
(1)
Every producer conducting a permanent place of amusement,
on or before the last day of each month following the end of each
quarter of each year, after the effective date of this article, shall
transmit to the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee,
on a form prescribed and prepared by him, a report of the amount of
tax collected by him during the preceding quarter of the year. Quarters
of the year shall end as follows: March 31, June 30, September 30,
December 31. Reports due, respectively for each quarter, on or before
April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31.
(2)
Every producer conducting a temporary place of amusement
or itinerant form of amusement to file a report with the Office of
the Director of Finance or its designee or its duly authorized agent
promptly after each performance not more than 30 days thereafter.
B.
All reports required under this section shall show
such information as the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee
shall prescribe.
C.
Every producer at the time of making every report
required by this section shall compute and pay to the Office of the
Director of Finance or its designee the taxes collected by him and
due to the City during the period for which the report is made. All
taxes shall bear interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the last
day of the month upon which such payment is due until paid. Interest
will be calculated at 1% for each month or partial month.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
If any producer shall neglect or refuse to make
any report or payment as herein required, an additional 10% of the
amount of the tax shall be added by the Office of the Director of
Finance or its designee and collected. All such taxes shall be recoverable
by the City Solicitor as other debts due the City are now by law recoverable,
including costs of collection.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
If the Office of the Director of Finance or
its designee is not satisfied with the report and payment of tax made
by any producer under the provisions of this article, he is authorized
and empowered to made a determination of the tax due by such producer,
based upon the facts contained in the report or upon any information
within his possession or that shall come into his possession, and
for this purpose, the Office of the Director of Finance or its designee
is authorized to examine the books, papers, tickets, ticket stubs
and records of any producer taxable under this article to verify the
accuracy of any report or payment made under the provisions thereof
or to ascertain whether the taxes imposed by this article have been
paid.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
If any producer shall neglect or refuse to make
any report and payment of tax required by this article, or if as a
result of an investigation by the Office of the Director of Finance
or its designee a report is found to be incorrect, the Office of the
Director of Finance or its designee shall estimate the tax due by
such producer and determine the amount due by him for taxes, penalties
and interest thereon.
All taxes, interest and penalties collected
or received under the provisions of this article shall be paid into
the Treasury of the City for the use and benefit of the City.
[Amended 2-11-2009 by Ord. No. 5189]
The Office of the Director of Finance or its
designee is authorized and directed to make and keep such records,
prepare such forms and take such other measures as may be necessary
or convenient to carry this article into effect and may, in his discretion,
require reasonable deposits to be made by applicants for temporary
permits.
Any person who shall be convicted for violating
or failing to carry out any of the provisions of this article or of
neglecting, failing or refusing to furnish completed and correct returns
or to pay over any tax levied by this article at the time required
or of knowingly making any incomplete, false or fraudulent returns
or of doing or attempting to do anything whatever to the payment of
the whole or any part of the tax imposed under this article shall
be liable to a fine or penalty not exceeding $300 for each and every
offense and the cost of prosecution thereof and, in default of payment
of any such fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 90 days.
Each day's operation, without complying with the provisions of this
article, shall constitute a separate and distinct violation of this
article.
